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NEW YORK – The border separating the very good from the big is wider than the third baseline, and David Wright has spent most of his career on the less desirable side of the division. He was a very good baseball player, not a very good player, and yet he deserved the start of Citi Field on Saturday night, just as Derek Jeter deserved his surreal farewells in the Bronx.
New York Yankees rookies, Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar, helped rewrite the record book, but their next field of play will be the post-season.
The "lizard king" delivered another gem, but St. Louis' attempt to reach the playoffs would not survive Saturday.
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Jeter won five World Series titles for the New York Yankees, five more than Wright for the Mets, and his success against Baltimore towards the end of the 2014 season punctuated a Hall of Fame career in the first round. Although Wright will not be following Jeter at Cooperstown, he deserved his farewell to the Jeter Marlins in Miami by representing his team and his city with as much grace and dignity as any athlete who has faced the challenge of New York, New York and New York. The sound of York.
Forced to a long exile by stenosis of the spine, Wright made the kind of return to the field after a 28-month absence that could have offended a purist who sees no place for ceremony athletes in legitimate competition – even at the end of September the bottom of the National League East. After all, Wright was not the best option for the home team as a # 3 hitter and first starting on third base. His stiff and surgically modified body gives little hint of his former athleticism. Wright was a 35-year-old man who was playing at a 45-year pace, and the Mets have defeated him against Miami so he could play a game, his last match, in front of his two young daughters.
The full hall that had gathered for the night's fireworks and for the last act of Wright stood up and applauded as Captain Mets was preparing for pre-game warm ups and that he was running alone on the ground. and insisted on the third base before signaling to his teammates to join him. Wright jogged on the line, squatting behind the plate, and taking a bouncing ball from his two-year-old daughter, Olivia Shea, before raising her in his arms.
After enduring a grueling rehabilitation program to rehabilitate him at that time, the returning kid had a rookie smile all night long. Wright always played the game as though he could not wait for the ice cream cone that was waiting for him afterwards, and on Saturday night he acted like a boy who was planning at least two or three scoops.
Wright scored his first goal in bat, scored an easy helicopter in the second inning and hit his team's first goal in the fourth inning. Before the start of the fifth inning, his manager, Mickey Callaway, left the canoe and ended the captain's career. Throughout the night, Wright had hugs and punches and punches for his teammates, opponents, referees and ground crew. When leaving the diamond for the last time, Wright kissed his former partner, Jose Reyes hit his chest and glove and nodded to the crowd as the Mets and Marlins applauded their tracks.
Wright gave the crowd a kiss and the fans responded by singing his name. After another series of hugs for his teammates came on the field, then a curtain call, the man wearing the number 5 and the big blue bracelet near his left elbow disappeared into the track to find places to cry. clubhouse.
"It's amazing, I can not thank you enough for staying around," Wright told the crowd as the Mets' 1-0 win over Miami came to a close in the 13th inning.
"It's love," he continued. "I can not say anything else … it is love."
Although injuries and surgeries rob him of years of glory, Wright had lived the baseball life that he had imagined in his childhood. Out of Norfolk, Virginia, chasing local Triple-A Tides autographs, Wright did not grow up wanting to wear Yankee's fine stripes. He was the rare prospect who really grew up wanting to be a Met.
He thanked the fans for "having my back on the first day." You hosted me, a 21-year-old from Virginia, you welcomed me as a New Yorker.
Wright reimbursed them by remaining loyal to the big city. He signed for $ 138 million after the 2012 season, but not until family members urged him to stay with a Loserville franchise. "I think we were asking the same questions as the whole city," one of his brothers, Stephen, told ESPN.com.
"My biggest concern for David was whether he could take a stranger's point of view, if he could get away with the equation." David is such a loyal guy in every respect.
Of course, he was extremely loyal to the Mets – David Allen Wright could not be anything else he was trying. He met his father Rhon, a long-time policeman from Chesapeake and his mother Elisa at 456 Fish on Granby Street in Norfolk and explained why he was betting on the Mets while every other sportsman. The third baseman said he believed in the franchise vision of a trip earlier than later in the World Series. In 2015, this vision ended in a five-game loss to the Kansas City Royals.
By that time, only Wright's body had begun to decompose, followed by the dismantling of the Mets' grand plan to create a consistent candidate for the championship. Before hitting Friday night, Wright had appeared for the last time in a big league match on May 27, 2016, while he had beaten the Dodgers. He had asked to return to the starting training on Saturday night to give his young family a complete overview of what he was, and the Mets made the right choice in granting the request.
Since arriving in 2004, Wright has accepted almost all of his employer's requests for a charitable cause or a fan from him. The Mets often used their third base player as a human shield. While they were busy groping and struggling on the ground, Wright was described as a credible and credible face of a faulty product. Of course, he never seemed to care, because David Wright knew that he was living his childhood dream. It was only from time to time that he showed his dismay at the place of the Mets in the Yankees' universe, or offered the public a quick glance at the competitive fire that was raging inside.
In 2011, owner Fred Wilpon told the New Yorker that Wright was "not a superstar", even though the third baseman was much better than Wilpon. Asked about the comment in his locker for more than 15 minutes, Wright refused to talk about the name of his employer and his friend. Informed at the mid-point of the interview, he only referred to the owner as "he" and "he" and "someone" and "the property group" and "the organization", and not like "Fred" Wright did not hide. He mentioned an apology received from Wilpon's son, Jeff, whom he named, and told reporters that he had removed a short message from Fred on his cell – not to mention Fred's name.
Wright re-signed with Wilpon anyway because he wanted to pull out a Met, and on Saturday night, he came out in style with his parents, his wife Molly and his daughters Olivia Shea and Madison in the stands. He ended his career slightly south of the 300 average, a little south of RBI 1,000 and a little south of 250 homers, but in his first game, Wright made more than 100 points in five out of six seasons . When he was healthy and surrounded by talent, he represented a huge threat.
"Thank you for allowing me to live my dream in front of you every night," he told the Citi Field crowd.
In the end, Wright is not a great player. As a great ambassador, he has proudly promoted his city, his franchise and the name of his family by treating people in the food supply chain in a decent and respectful way.
If it's not enough to win an emotional goodbye to the stadium, what is it?
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